Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 1/26/2010

Question
I do not believe that God elected some for salvation and some to be lost, so here is my question, what does it mean in Acts: 13:48 when it says and  all who were appointed for eternal life believed.? Thank you so much for you answer. BLessings, Jan

Answer
Hi Janice,
  I am truly sorry to be so slow in responding to your question.  I am a church planter working in Utah and in the midst of starting a new church.  We have run into some problem with the financing of the property we are seeking to purchase for the church and this has really kept me busy.   However, today things are better and I have some time.
  Acts 13:48 says "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."  (Acts 13:48)

  Many teach that this verse teaches that God has elected certain persons to be saved and others who He withholds His grace.    However, this interpretation runs contrary to other clearly stated teachings in God's word that say that God loves the whole world (John 3:16) and that Christ's death paid the penalty for sins for all men (1 John 2:2).  Further no where in God's word does He say or even hints that He withholds His grace from most of the world and condemns them to hell because He in His sovereignty deeds to do so.   God's very nature of love would not allow Him to withhold His grace.  God plainly states "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

  The context of Acts 13:48 is that Jesus was addressing the response of the unbelieving Jews to accepting Him as the promised Messiah.  In Acts 13:16f Paul stood before the Jews and preached the message that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 13:23)  He recounted the unbelief of the Jews and of how they crucified Jesus.  He told them of Jesus' resurrection and that He was seen many times by those from Galilee to Jerusalem.  In verse 33 Paul clearly proclaims that Jesus was the promised Messiah to Israel.  He explained that if they would believe they would be saved and forgiven their sins.(V39)  Verse 43 records that many Jews and Jewish proselytes believed and were saved.   However, beginning in verse 45 Paul recounts how that the unbelieving strongly opposed the Gospel.
  
   Verse 47 sets the context of verse 48.  The Jews were rejecting Jesus Christ and so Paul states that he is to be a light to the Gentiles.  These Gentiles were glad and believed and they were saved.   Thus it tells us that it was God's plan that the Gentiles would be appointed (ordained) unto salvation, because in contrast to the Jews who would not believe.

    The commentator and Bible scholar Adam Clarke makes this statement:

    "Many suppose that it simply means that those in that assembly who were fore-ordained; or predestinated by God's decree, to eternal life, believed under the influence of that decree. Now, we should be careful to examine what a word means, before we attempt to fix its meaning. Whatever τεταγμενοι may mean, which is the word we translate ordained, it is neither προτεταγμενοι nor προορισμενοι which the apostle uses, but simply τεταγμενοι , which includes no idea of pre-ordination or pre-destination of any kind.  . . .Though the word in this place has been variously translated, yet, of all the meanings ever put on it, none agrees worse with its nature and known signification than that which represents it as intending those who were predestinated to eternal life: this is no meaning of the term, and should never be applied to it. Let us, without prejudice, consider the scope of the place: the Jews contradicted and blasphemed; the religious proselytes heard attentively, and received the word of life: the one party were utterly indisposed, through their own stubbornness, to receive the Gospel; the others, destitute of prejudice and prepossession, were glad to hear that, in the order of God, the Gentiles were included in the covenant of salvation through Christ Jesus; they, therefore, in this good state and order of mind, believed."

   Therefore there are many reasons that the interpretation is not that God choose certain individuals to eternal life and condemned other not allowing them to be saved or allowing them to believe and receive God's grace.

   I have an article that explains the matter of the false teaching of Calvinism and Arminianism which can be found at  http://bible-truth.org/election.htm  "Is Calvinsim or Arminianism Biblical"?   Please cut and paste the link into your browser to read the article.  

   The biblical principle of hermeneutics that applies to interpreting this verse is called interpreting in the "analogy of the faith."   In other words God cannot contradict Himself.  He is says He loves the world and wishes all men to repent and be saved and further that Jesus paid the sin debt of the world and that all who will believe will be saved.... Therefore God cannot then condemn anyone to hell by electing to withhold His love from them.  God is love...and cannot do anything that would make Him unloving.  He loves His creation and wants to them to be saved. Thus in His great love for man He send His Son to suffer and die for the sins of the world.  The fact of God's love is plainly and overwhelming taught in His word.

   So if a verse seems to be saying something contrary to what the rest of the Word of God teaches, then we must look further for the correct interpretation that does not violate other teachings in the Bible.   The biblical doctrine of God's love for the world is contradicted by he interpretation that He has only elected (loved) some and condemned (not loved) most of mankind to hell not allowing them to be saved.

   I hope this helps.  Many have gone astray into accepting the false teachings of Calvinism. I hope this helps you properly understand what God is saying.

    Please if you have further questions or comments please write.

Cooper P Abrams III
Romans 12:1-2
http://bible-truth.org

     "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity"  (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 )

For a clear explanation of God's plan of salvation please go to: http://bible-truth.org/gospel.html